Friday, March 16, 2007

Tom Davis & His Flip-flopping Talking Points...

For the last four years, Republicans have been telling the world that Valerie Plame was not covert and therefore no law was broken.

Think Progress has a few good quotes that make the point from the liars and their dissembling talking points (and this especially includes Fred Hiatt of the Washington Post who should have known better than to assert that Plame was not covert as recently as a few days ago):

Mort Kondracke: “I frankly don’t think since Valerie Plame was not a covert officerthat there was a crime here.” [Fox, 3/9/07]

Sean Hannity: “She did not meet the criteria, in any way, shape, matter or form as a covert agent.” [Fox, 3/6/07]

Robert Novak: “No evidence that she was a covert agent was ever presented to the jury.” [Fox, 3/6/07]

Victoria Toensing: “Plame was not covert. She worked at CIA headquarters and had not been stationed abroad within five years of the date of Novak’s column.” [Washington Post, 2/18/07]

CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden has also recently confirmed to Democratic Congressmen Henry Waxman of California and Silvestre Reyes of Texas that Plame was covert.

So...it sure looks like the Washington Post and others have a little work ahead of them in setting the record straight, right?

The news side of the Washington Post reports this afternoon that Plame's "employment 'was not common knowledge on the Georgetown cocktail circuit,'" as characterized by GOP blowhards.

"[A]ll of my efforts on behalf of the national security of the United States, all of my training, all the value of my years of service, were abruptly ended when my name and identity were exposed irresponsibly."

It is now evident that the Bush administration cared more about their deceitful charade about some nonexistent Iraqi weapons of mass destruction than the national interest of those they were elected and sworn to protect and defend.

Not to worry, though. Republican Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia now avows that there is absolutely "no evidence that anyone who leaked her name 'had any idea that she was a covert agent.'" In other words, now that we know she was covert, oops, so sorry, we simply didn't know...

That's right, boys and girls. Karl Rove didn't know Plame was covert. Scooter Libby didn't know she was covert. In fact, even Dick Cheney didn't know a thing. Yep, just like Attorney General in Prosecutor-gate, everyone in the White House is out of the loop.

Well, this blather and bullshit strategy did work for Poppy some years ago...

Plame also repeatedly described herself as a covert operative, a term that has multiple meanings. Plame said she worked undercover and traveled abroad on secret missions for the CIA.

But the word "covert" also has a legal definition requiring recent foreign service and active efforts to keep someone's identity secret. Critics of Fitzgerald's investigation said Plame did not meet that definition for several reasons and said that's why nobody was charged with the leak.

Also, none of the witnesses who testified at Libby's trial said it was clear that Plame's job was classified. However, Fitzgerald said flatly at the courthouse after the verdict that Plame's job was classified.

Rep. Tom Davis, the ranking Republican on the committee, said, "No process can be adopted to protect classified information that no one knows is classified. This looks to me more like a CIA problem than a White House problem."

Plame said she wasn't a lawyer and didn't know what her legal status was but said it shouldn't have mattered to the officials who learned her identity.... end quote

According to the law adopted by CONGRESS Plame did not meet the requirements to be considered "covert".

Listen Liberals... If They Knew who leaked her name (and they did know who did because there was an admission of guilt) and she met the requirements THEN...

SOMEONE WOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED!!

But no one was because if it had gone to trial they would have no chance of a conviction.

She was an ambassador's wife - she had access to high level informants whether she traveled with the foreign service or "just" traveled with her husband. In fact, I heard a CIA executive say on NPR that ambassador's wives used to be a great source of info - but now after this, no one will talk to them. This valuable source of info dried up.

She was in the "counter-proliferation" division at CIA - that prevents WMDs. She was covert.

The memo used to leak her is clearly CLASSIFIED. This version has been redacted and is unclassified but you can see the SECRET designation for the original on the bottom here.

What I was trying to say was... Liberals don't say what they mean, use emotions when making decisions in stead of their brain and they keep making the same stupid mistakes time after time after time...

IF I WAS A REPUBLICAN....I would refuse to defend the corrupt, lying, scoundrels who have taken over the White House and refuse to be accountable for their numerous ILLEGAL actions. It is destroying this country.

If I was a Republican I surely wouldn't defend these idiotic treasonous criminals.

If I was a Republican I would switch to being an Independent . This is not the Republican party my father belonged to...Goldwater, a noted conservative, would not support these extremists who have taken over the GOP and made it the Grand OIL Party.